History of GrowHow
Past, Present, Future...
1898
Sir William Crookes warned that conventional agriculture could not feed the exploding population without fixing Nitrogen from the air. At the time, natural nitrates and guano were imported from Chile.
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1914
In Germany, BASF developed the technology to harness Nitrogen from the air, resulting in ammonia and ammonium nitrate, a fertiliser which could also be used as an explosive.
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1915
Folklore tells that British spies copied the German secret plans for harnessing Nitrogen and brought them back to the UK.
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1923
The government selected Billingham for its plans with its excellent access to road, rail, water, coal, labour and power. The War delayed progress but in 1923 on Christmas Eve the first UK ammonia was successfully produced.
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1929
The Wall Street Crash created an environment for change and Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) Ltd was formed, focusing on new product development.
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1939
New products opened up many business opportunities and eventually a new division was created called ICI Plastics. Perspex was produced at the Billingham site and was used for Spitfire cockpit covers during the Second World War.
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1940 and 1950s
ICI expanded operations including the Wilton, Severnside and Portrack sites. Production turned from coal to fuel oil which improved environmental impact, labour and land costs dramatically.
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1960s
ICI was a strong market force building an enviable reputation as the undisputed UK market leader. Ultimately, over 17,000 were employed. North Sea gas became the new feedstock.
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1965
The Portrack site focused on fertiliser production and launched the fertiliser brand Nitram®. In the North West, a joint Shell/Armour Star venture was developed at a site near Shells Stanlow oil refinery at Ince for the manufacture of fertilisers from petroleum feedstocks.
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1975
The business marketed as Shellstar became UKF Fertilisers in 1975. UKF was wholly owned by DSM.
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1988
UKF Fertilisers was acquired by a Finnish company called Kemira.
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1990s
The 1990s were volatile and heavy business losses were incurred by both companies. ICI was divided up with the fertiliser business being purchased by Terra Industries to become Terra Nitrogen (UK) Ltd.
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2007
In 2007, Kemira GrowHow and Terra Industries entered into a joint venture creating a new business, GrowHow. The head office is based at Ince near Chester and manufacturing is focused on two sites at Ince and Billingham.
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Next...
Currently GrowHow employs around 600 people. Over £40 million has been invested in GrowHow since 2007 improving environmental performance, creating manufacturing excellence and building a new market leading business. GrowHow UK aims to build on the success of the past to benefit all our futures.
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